For as much as we complain about the play calling, and there were some poor calls yesterday, such as 3rd and 2 and throwing an out pattern to Lloyd who got nothing done against Gilmore, it has to be said that we wouldn't have had that offensive performance last year or the year before etc. There have been times when the offense averaged 7 ypc, however how often have we seen the Pats run the ball nearly 40 times? That's what was needed and the o-line absolutely killed what is possibly the most highly touted defensive line in all of football.

I would love Vereen to work out because he could add an extra element to the offense, however if Bolden can be aywhere near as effective as he was on Sunday then I'm happy with Ridley being spelled by Bolden and Woodhead playing in certain packages.

Salas is intriguing. I think he could be better than Edelman, however Welker and Lloyd have got more into the picture as the season has gone on and Hernandez is still due back. Salas may be a guy to look for next year.

Shiancoe will hopefully come off IR around week 10 and just give an added option. I think he's definitely an upgrade over Fells.

Cunningham has been one of the better Pats defenders when he has seen the field, whereas Nink, with the exception of one series against Buffalo, has looked poor.

I don't know what it is with Dowling. Is it performance related, is he in the dog house, is it simply he doesn't fit the scheme as well as Moore??? I really don't know but it's getting worriesome at this stage. He is currenly the Pats 5th CB

In honor of the thread on the NFL board, here are my quarter season awards for the Patriots

MVP Award: Chandler Jones- He's already the Patriots best 2 way player on defense, and I shudder to think about what the pass rush would look like without him. He's forced fumbles, sacked the QB, and made big stops in the run game. With the balance we've shown on offense, I'd be willing to give him the edge over Brady as of right now.

Most Improved Player Award: Brandon Spikes- We saw plenty of glimpses towards the end of last season of what he would become, but so far Spikes is pretty much everything we could have hoped he'd become when he came out of Florida. He's added attitude and intimidation to the defense, and has come up with timely fumbles. That spin move against Arizona and hit on Jackson were 2 of my favorite plays this entire season. He's Bryan Cox reincarnated.

The Thank God You're Back Award: Sebastian Vollmer- Even in limited snaps he's been by far the best offensive lineman. He dominated Mario Williams last week, and when he's been in I don't think a defender has even sniffed Brady. If he keeps this up he might just get that big contract in the offseason.

The First Talented Young Running Back We've Had That Doesn't Belong in a Ballet Award: Stevan Ridley- The guy has been such a revelation so far. The coaching staff seems to be confident enough in him to give him enough touches to make his mark on a game. He's explosive and runs hard. Give him time and hopefully he'll become a better blocker and a receiver. I hoped for him to become like Pierre Thomas, but after the first few weeks we might just need to readjust the ceiling.

The Needs to Step it Up Award: Rob Gronkowski- This isn't to say Gronk has been bad, but it's obvious that he's not playing at the same level as he was last year. There have been 2 plays this season that he would have had last year, that bomb in Arizona that he dropped on his fingertips, and the TD that got knocked out by Stephon Gilmore. So far he's been more Jason Witten than 2011 Rob Gronkowski, which is fine, but I think he's capable of more.

The Jekyll and Hyde Award: Devin McCourty- Compared to his play last year he has been a revelation. That said he looks like he's 2010 McCourty on one play and 2011 McCourty on another. At least he's turning back to the ball now more often than not. His play going forward is one of the most important factors of us becoming a dominant defense.

The One Too Many Scrappy White Guys Award: Danny Woodhead- Honestly once Hernandez is back this guys should be as far away from the field as possible. Simply put, he's not talented enough to warrant 8 touches let alone 20. Every time we look his way it's one less touch for Gronk, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd, and Ridley which is a poor choice. Run draws out of shotgun with him, and dump it out to him in the flat if your receivers are covered, but don't run him out of the I.

The Reason Why None Of Us Are GM's Award: Tavon Wilson- I have no idea why he looked so bad at Illinois, yet looks pretty good now, but I'll take it. Even if you take away the turnovers which are mostly luck, he's still around the ball and looks like our best safety when he is on the field. If he can take over for Gregory by midseason we'll have something really positive going forward at every level of the defense.

The Setzzz the Edgezzz Award: Rob Ninkovich- I think he's miscast in this defense, and our priority #1 on defense in the draft is to get something a bit more functional at RE. He had a very nice sack last week, but he's been stonewalled for most of the season. Chandler Jones has been getting a ton of pressure from the right side, but athletic QB's generally have been rolling away from him to Ninko's side. Move Ninko back to LB'er and get somebody who can prevent QB's from breaking the pocket on their right side, and even if they struggle to finish they might just make it possible for Jones to become a 12-14 sack kind of guy for us.

I agree with pretty much everything you have there. An arguement could be made that Wilfork could be the team MVP thus far as well and you can never go wrong with Brady for that accolade.

As for McCourty, I think with the exception of maybe 4 plays has been absolutely lights out and has played better than at any point in his career. He gets his hands on so many balls it is ridiculous and now he has, as you mentioned, started to locate the ball in the air more. /he gives the defense much more room to do other things. BB hasn't had a guy he trusts in the secondary to let him play this much man coverage since Ty Law

Chandler Jones has been good to great for us thus far, but these last two games, especially against the Ravens, he has been non existent. Thus far hes been a major upgrade but I just couldnt call him MVP caliber at all. I would put a number of players in front of him in that category thus far, but he certainly has been a difference maker.

Donta Hightower, I think has done a pretty terrific job as well (not jones good but still impressive). Hes looked like he has a very high ceiling already, he needs work but the tools and smarts are there. His one big criticism coming out was coverage, and thus far hes looked pretty reliable.

Tavon, has also been alright. Now I don't know if that means our safeties are just that bad or if hes better than what his college tape showed but hes made a couple nice plays on the ball and I'm happy for him.

The gronk catches, that Arizona one was all on Brady. He couldn't have been any more open and Brady over shot him. Could he have made that catch? Sure but that was more on Brady than Gronk. And the drop in the Bills game came after he took a pretty big hit, which again he could of held onto but understandable that he didn't.

I am certainly not as high on Nink, what so ever really. The guy is just so meh, to me hes like another Tully Banta cain. He'll take advantage of weak teams and be non existent against the better ones. Should strictly be a third down, sub package guy.

McCourty just needs to make those big plays that hes messing up on. I agree with the consensus he is much better than last year but way too many missed opportunities.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.

I am certainly not as high on Nink, what so ever really. The guy is just so meh, to me hes like another Tully Banta cain. He'll take advantage of weak teams and be non existent against the better ones. Should strictly be a third down, sub package guy.

Helluva comparison right there. Nink may end the year with 6-10 sacks and a few big plays, however when you look at who he made them against and in what situations it's clear he feasts on lower tier teams in blowouts.

Chandler Jones has been good to great for us thus far, but these last two games, especially against the Ravens, he has been non existent. Thus far hes been a major upgrade but I just couldnt call him MVP caliber at all. I would put a number of players in front of him in that category thus far, but he certainly has been a difference maker.

Donta Hightower, I think has done a pretty terrific job as well (not jones good but still impressive). Hes looked like he has a very high ceiling already, he needs work but the tools and smarts are there. His one big criticism coming out was coverage, and thus far hes looked pretty reliable.

Tavon, has also been alright. Now I don't know if that means our safeties are just that bad or if hes better than what his college tape showed but hes made a couple nice plays on the ball and I'm happy for him.

The gronk catches, that Arizona one was all on Brady. He couldn't have been any more open and Brady over shot him. Could he have made that catch? Sure but that was more on Brady than Gronk. And the drop in the Bills game came after he took a pretty big hit, which again he could of held onto but understandable that he didn't.

I am certainly not as high on Nink, what so ever really. The guy is just so meh, to me hes like another Tully Banta cain. He'll take advantage of weak teams and be non existent against the better ones. Should strictly be a third down, sub package guy.

McCourty just needs to make those big plays that hes messing up on. I agree with the consensus he is much better than last year but way too many missed opportunities.

I really don't know who I'd put in front of Jones though. Vince Wilfork was awful in the Baltimore game, and probably the single biggest factor we lost besides penalties. Also, Brady has been good, but his best statistical performances came in a losing effort to Baltimore, and our best rushing game in years. He was off against Arizona and we lost as well.

Jones has been a factor in stops on every game and without him we do not have a pass rush.

As far as the Gronk thing goes, yes those were difficult catches, but they were ones that he would have made in the past. I'm not saying he's been bad, or even that he hasn't been very good, but I think the Jason Witten thing explains it perfectly. He's not taking over games, which if we want to win the Super Bowl, we need him to do.

Also, my Ninko award was entirely meant to be ironic towards the Ninkovich defenders who justify his playing time because he can set the edge, I'm sorry if it didn't come off as that way. He's been terrible so far.

I really don't know who I'd put in front of Jones though. Vince Wilfork was awful in the Baltimore game, and probably the single biggest factor we lost besides penalties. Also, Brady has been good, but his best statistical performances came in a losing effort to Baltimore, and our best rushing game in years. He was off against Arizona and we lost as well.

Jones has been a factor in stops on every game and without him we do not have a pass rush.

As far as the Gronk thing goes, yes those were difficult catches, but they were ones that he would have made in the past. I'm not saying he's been bad, or even that he hasn't been very good, but I think the Jason Witten thing explains it perfectly. He's not taking over games, which if we want to win the Super Bowl, we need him to do.

Also, my Ninko award was entirely meant to be ironic towards the Ninkovich defenders who justify his playing time because he can set the edge, I'm sorry if it didn't come off as that way. He's been terrible so far.

I'd still give it to Brady. Jones was non existent against the Ravens, I actually think ninko did better coming close to Flacco that game than jones did lol. He has slowed down a lot since those first two games imo. I would even say the O-line in the run game or Ridley have contributed just as much to the success of this team. I guess the difference in opinion would be Mvp.

I agree that we need more from gronk, but coming off a big knee injury I expect him to have a down year. I think Ive stated that here once before but I dont think hes going to repeat last year performance this year. Personally I want more from lloyd but my expectations have been much lower since signing him than alot of peoples.

Couldnt agree more on the ninko and misread what you were saying. hes played petty bad this year. We need an upgrade.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.

Reports are he will be back by next week, but I'm fine if thats not the case. Don't rush him because were going to need him later on in the season. If he comes back and stays healthy this could be the most complete offense we have ever had, including 2007s offense which lacked a top tier rushing attack. Although I still wish we had a presence deep like Moss brought us.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.

Reports are he will be back by next week, but I'm fine if thats not the case. Don't rush him because were going to need him later on in the season. If he comes back and stays healthy this could be the most complete offense we have ever had, including 2007s offense which lacked a top tier rushing attack. Although I still wish we had a presence deep like Moss brought us.

We need Hernandez to make this O complete. We have looked out of sorts without him, I still think we could get it done but as you said adding him would make this complete especially if the line improves. Looked great last week but we will see. If the line gels, Mankind comes back healthy, Hernandez comes back healthy, Lloyd keeps improving, and the injuries stop then look out. What Moss gave us was a once in the lifetime kind of thing, but Lloyd could be a similar type of threat for us while still offering a lot more than just a deep threat. I think he will be a big time player for us the rest of the way.

I am skeptical on Lloyd becoming a big part of this offense unfortunately. I don't see him being a big time deep threat for us, at most I think hell make those back shoulder catches for first downs a few times a game. But I personally dont see him developing our deep game as much as others have envisioned.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.